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Contents
literary definition
Overview
This page has 5 definitions of literary in English. Literary is an adjective. Examples of how to use literary in a sentence are shown. Also define these 0 related words and terms: .
English
Etymology
From French littéraire.
Pronunciation
- (UK, General Australian) IPA(key): /ˈlɪtəɹəɹi/, /ˈlɪt(ə)ɹi/
- (US, Canada) IPA(key): /ˈlɪtəɹɛ(ə)ɹi/, [ˈɫɪɾəɹɛ(ə)ɹi]
Audio (US) (file)
Adjective
literary (comparative more literary, superlative most literary)
- Relating to literature.
- literary fame
- a literary history
- literary conversation
- c. 1768, Samuel Johnson, Preface to the Plays of William Shakespeare
- He has long outlived his century, the term commonly fixed as the test of literary merit.
- Relating to writers, or the profession of literature.
- a literary man
- 1775, William Mason, The Poems of Mr. Gray. To which are prefixed Memoirs of his Life and Writings by W. Mason. York
- in the literary as well as fashionable world
- Knowledgeable of literature or writing.
- Appropriate to literature rather than everyday writing.
- Bookish.
Synonyms
Derived terms
- literary criticism
- literary device
- literary form
- literary genre
- literary technique
- literary theory
- nonliterary
Related terms
Translations
relating to literature
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relating to writers, or the profession of literature
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knowledgeable of literature or writing
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appropriate to literature rather than everyday writing
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Further reading
- literary in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- literary in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911